Publication:

Pattern of antimicrobials use in chronic leg ulcers at a tertiary care hospital

Background Chronic leg ulcers are common among elderly population with major risk factors being diabetes, smoking etc., and their sequelae are the most common cause of disability and hospital admission with a significant impact on the quality of life. This study was taken up to evaluate usage of Antimicrobial agents (AMA) in chronic leg ulcers using WHO prescribing indicators.

Methods A prospective, observational study, in which 101 prescriptions with antibiotics, prescribed for cases of chronic leg ulcer, were collected from the Department of Surgery, analysed and assessed using WHO prescribing indicators.

Results One hundred and one prescriptions collected over a period of 6 weeks, were analysed using WHO prescribing indicators. Total number of drugs prescribed was 721. Average number of drugs per prescription was 7. 36% of the drugs were prescribed by their generic name and only 35% of the total drugs were from EML (2011). Prescriptions of AMA accounted for 34.4%; most common being Beta lactam (25.6%) followed by Linezolid (20.8%), Metronidazole (17.7%), Fluoroquinolones (7.6%) and combination antibiotics (28%). All patients received one or more injections. The average duration of AMA therapy was 5 days.

Conclusions Majority of the AMAs used in the treatment of chronic leg ulcers were injection. However prescriptions from Essential Medicine List and by generic name were less frequent.